They would stick their black, wet noses between the door and the wall and force their way into my room like bandits, though they weren't as sneaky.

As soon as I heard the creak of the door, the click of their nails against the hardwood floor and the swishing of their long tails, I would point to the door and yell, "Out!" in my fiercest voice. They would whine, but obey my command and exit my room with heads hanging.

I couldn't be bothered with their large, awkward greyhound bodies that followed me around the house constantly, or their sloppy doggy kisses on my nose that smelled of mackerel, or their snow-white hair I found on my clothes, especially my black sweater.

I did feel awful for them; they had been beaten and abused at the racetrack where we adopted them. Their tall, skinny forms seemed to infringe on my life and I kept pushing them away.

I approached the worn gate with my arms full of packages and bags. There Magic and Picasso were waiting for me, tails wagging. Picasso's tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth as usual and I thought, What a stupid, stupid dog.

I shifted my packages to my left and flipped up the latch of the gate with my pinkie. Until that moment, I never really realized how skinny they were.

Before I could move my free hand to hold their collars, they had both slipped by me and into the street.

And they were off! I could just picture them as they sprinted down the street to freedom. I dropped everything and turned. By now, they were just two dark spots traveling toward the horizon.

"Get back here!" I screamed, my voice dripping with pure panic and covered in the fear that I would never see them again. They were too far to hear my cries and too excited to care.

I ran into the house, tears streaming down my face and grabbed a box of dog bones. I ran after them, blinded by salty rivers of remorse.

I finally found them in a neighbor's yard. I grabbed their collars and hauled them back to my house, with a strange feeling flowing through my body. It was like a fire, ignited by the heart.